SPLAT!
by DatNuttyKid
Summary: Will, Jonu, Tenta, and Cole make up one of the most talented squads in Inkopolis. But what starts out as a normal morning quickly takes a turn for the worse when the Zapfish go missing. Now they've been flung into the role of heroes, alongside one of their arch-rivals. Can this rag-tag group of five take out the Octarians? Or will the great Inkopolis finally fall to DJ Octavio?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay. This is like, my fourth attempt to make a video game-based fanfiction. But I really love this concept. So here goes. Gulp.**

 _Rrrrrrring. Rrrrrrrring._

A hand reached out from under the blanket and swatted at the snail-shell-shaped alarm clock, eventually getting the ringing to pause before disappearing back into the sea of dark blue that made up the bed. But the boy who owned the hand only had a few moments of silence before a loud knock at the window startled him into throwing the blanket off, revealing an Inkling - a squid-like creature with human features. The boy's bright yellow eyes shone through his tanned face and out the window to where two more Inklings were sitting. One was Jonu, a pale, scrawny teal-eyed boy with his light blue tentacles brushed to the side and in a ponytail, while the other was Tenta, a dark-skinned girl with magenta eyes whose lilac tentacles hung effortlessly around her face. The drowsy Inkling was Will, their best friend and a member of their squad.

"About time you get up," Tenta teased. Jonu snickered beside her but was silenced by a piercing glare from the other side of the window.

"The turf war's about to start," he timidly spoke up.

"You didn't forget, did you?" Tenta gasped over-dramatically.

"Of course not," the still half-asleep Will said, stretching. "Give me a second to get dressed and I'll be right out." Tenta rolled her eyes and her companion gave a small thumbs up before they vanished down off the fire escape. The remaining Inkling stretched and rubbed his eyes before finally leaping out of bed. His first stop? The mirror, as always, to make sure his dark blue hair was in perfect order. A few brushes here, a couple yanks there, and his signature multi-colored hair band to hold his hair in a ponytail, and he was ready to go.

Next stop, the dresser. The boy dug out his favorite shirt - a Reel Sweat from Zekko - and pulled it over his head. Next, his Blue Sea Slugs and a pair of Noise Cancellers, and he was ready to roll. He grabbed his Tentatek Splattershot and was out the door.

"Tenta! Will! Jonu! About time you guys get here!" the fourth member of their group, Cole, called when he finally saw his friends arrive at Inkopolis Plaza. Cole was a green Inkling with blue eyes whose tentacles were spiked upward.

"Sorry Cole," the girl, Tenta, apologized. "Sleepy-head over here didn't want to get up." She playfully elbowed Will, who, in a much better mood now that he was awake, just laughed.

"Where's the gang?" Will asked, holding his Splattershot up readily.

Cole stuck a thumb towards the tower behind him. "Waiting inside. Everyone ready?" Tenta swung her Kelp Splatterscope over her shoulder while Jonu put his Krak-On Splat Roller to the ground and they both nodded in affirmation. Cole lifted up his Heavy Splatling Deco and spoke, "Then let's roll!"

"About time you guys get here," the leader of the rival gang sneered as the four stepped into the tower. She threateningly pointed her Custom Range Blaster at Will.

"Whatever Ink," Will said, pushing her Blaster out of his face. "Let's just get started, alright?"

"Aw, does the poor baby want to go back to bed?" Ink teased in a high-pitched voice. Her friends chuckled menacingly behind her. Tenta took a step towards the girl, but Will stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Tenta," he said, not breaking eye contact with Ink, who smirked. "We'll make up for it by destroying them in the Turf War." Tenta stuck her tongue out at Ink, but backed up.

Before the taunting could continue, a booming voice echoed through the arena. "Inklings, are you ready for a Turf War?" The eight kids cheered in affirmation. "Your map will be… Mahi-Mahi Resort!" A picture of the resort appeared underneath the speaker. Suddenly, Will looked pale.

"Will, are you okay?" Jonu asked worriedly. Before Will could respond, the voice spoke up again. "Please approach your teleport pads." Two doors slid open, each revealing a different pad. One was green, the other purple.

"See you out there," Ink called with a wink as her team stepped onto the purple pad, transformed into squids and vanished. Will scowled at her before motioning his team towards the green pad, still looking nauseated.

Will, Tenta, Jonu, and Cole appeared from a different green pad, now all with the same colored hair and some of their outfit recolored as well. Tenta, Cole, and Jonu examined the resort to mentally develop a plan, but Will just stared at his Blue Sea Slugs.

The voice spoke again, "The battle will begin in… 3! 2! 1! GO!"

Immediately, Jonu, Tenta, and Cole took off running, Jonu carefully covering every spot surrounding the spawn with ink using his Roller while Tenta and Cole immediately take off deeper into the map. Will, however, lagged behind. Jonu took notice of this and halted.

"Are you okay?" he asked again. Will took a deep breath and looked up, nodding slightly before running off. Jonu looked unsure but quickly got back to work.

As usual, Will headed straight into the center of the map, which Ink and her gang were already coating in purple ink. He looked around him and saw Tenta crouching on a platform just out of sight of Ink and her gang, aiming her Charger in preparation for the perfect shot. Cole, in his squid form, swam up next to Will before emerging. "What's the plan?" he asked.

Will took another look. Tenta had just shot one of Ink's lackeys, so the other three were distracted trying to find her while she swam off in search of another hiding spot. Jonu was taking advantage of her distraction to cover up some of the purple ink with his own green. But the thing that caught Will's eye was the gap filled with water separating him from the main portion of the map.

"You go on and protect Jonu," he finally told Cole. "I'll… handle over here." Cole looked a little unsure, but followed orders and leaped gracefully across the pit, immediately firing on Ink and taking out both her and one of the two remaining lackeys. Will transformed into a squid and rapidly swam around the long way to the center of the map and began covering the purple ink in the area.

Cole and Jonu, meanwhile, had just taken out the last of Ink's team and were busy finishing up the area, when suddenly a splash of purple ink covered them both, damaging them. They whirled around to see Ink had already made it back after respawning, alongside one of her buddies, who was the cause of the ink with his Sloshing Machine.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" she scoffed, aiming her blaster at them. Jonu quickly reacted, splashing his Roller behind him, creating a place for both him and Cole to dive into to heal. Ink rolled her black eyes and aimed her blaster at the spot, but just before she could fire she was hit with a blast of green ink from the side and disintegrated, her lackey joining her seconds later. Cole and Jonu emerged from the ink and turned to the source of the shot- Tenta. She gave a wave and the two boys immediately got back to work covering the purple ink Ink and her teammate left behind.

Only one minute remained on the clock, and Will's team was leading by a pretty good-sized margin. The previously-underwater areas had been revealed when the water receded, as usual, and Jonu was quick to spring into action and try to cover them, only to be taken out by Ink's Slosher-wielding teammate, which left Will to handle the areas himself while Jonu respawned. Fortunately, he was able to easily defeat the Slosher with his Suction Bombs and immediately got to work.

But only a few seconds later he saw Ink and two of her teammates approaching him. He managed to fire a few small splashes at them but found himself without ink, and Ink and her teammates were pushing him deeper into purple ink and further away from his green ink.

"Well, look what we have here," Ink sneered. Will desperately shook his Splattershot, trying to get enough ink to take them out, but to no avail. And none of his teammates were in sight.

"Why don't you just shoot me?" he growled at her.

"Well, what's the fun in that?" Ink asked innocently. "Look behind you." Will raised an eyebrow, but turned around- they were leading him straight towards the water. His skin paled again. "See, there's no chance we can win anyway. So we might as well get a little fun out of it." She snapped her fingers and took a step back as her tougher-looking friends stepped closer and closer to Will. Before long, he was on the edge of the platform, shivering.

"I h-hate you," he tried to snarl at Ink, but ended up just sounding fearful- of course, he was, so that was no surprise.

"Oh, you do?" Ink acted insulted. "Well, I suppose there's no reason for me not to do this then. Push him in, boys." Her friends smirked and immediately shoved Will back, sending him flying backward into the water, where he dissolved.

He respawned, of course, but it wasn't of any use. He couldn't move at all because he was so frightened. Fortunately, Tenta was nearby and saw him sit down, still shaking.

"Will!" she called, taking one last shot at her target before squidding over to him. "Will, what's up? Are you okay?"

Will barely managed to shake his head no without breaking down crying. Tenta got down on her knees and wrapped her arm around him.

"TIME!" the voice from earlier boomed, signifying that the match was over. All of the weapons stopped working as the Inklings all made their way back to their respective spawn points to be teleported back to Inkopolis tower, where the results would be given to them by Judd. When Cole and Jonu arrived, Tenta had to explain to each of them that she had just found Will here and was unsure what happened.

Will was cheered up a little by the announcement that his team had come out victorious, but still didn't speak to any of his friends before going straight back to his apartment. About an hour later, the three of them showed up in his window again and he let them in.

"So what happened?" Cole asked him once he got in. Will shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It has to do with the water, doesn't it?" Jonu spoke up. He immediately realized he shouldn't have when Will shot him a glare.

"What do you mean water?" Cole asked him.

"I-I don't think I'm supposed to say," Jonu said, looking between Will and Cole.

"Tell us," Tenta demanded, more intimidatingly than Will could ever dream to be.

"Will's afraid of water," Jonu squeaked before ducking behind Will's bed, away from Will's wrath.

"What? Why?" Cole asked. "I mean, yeah, Inklings can't swim, but you'll just respawn during a Turf War and there's no other water anywhere near Inkopolis."

"More importantly, why didn't you tell us?" Tenta asked, much softer than her last statement. She comfortingly put a hand on Will's shoulder.

"It's not important, and I'll be fine," Will said, moving her hand away. "We beat Ink, right? And that's all that matters."

"Yeah… About that," Jonu squeaked nervously, popping his eyes up over the bed.

"What now, Jonu?" Tenta sighed, exasperated.

"After you guys left… Ink told me to tell you…" Jonu was barely loud enough to hear.

"Tell us _what_?!" Tenta demanded again. "And for crying out loud, Jonu, speak up!"

"She wants a rematch. Tomorrow morning. Same time, and uh… Same map." Will paled again- this time his skin was almost as pale as Jonu's was always.

"Holy calamari, are you going to faint?" Cole said, stepping closer to him in case he had to catch him.

"N-No, I'm going to… I'm gonna be fine," Will confirmed, trying to take a step. He barely avoided falling over.

"Okay, we need to get your mind off of this," Tenta said thoughtfully. Suddenly, her magenta eyes lit up. "I know exactly what you need."

"That look is never a good thing," Cole whispered to Will worriedly.

 **That's about it for chapter 1. What do you guys think?**

 **Just to be clear because I'm not sure if it's going to come up naturally later, Tenta and Cole are siblings. That's why their names are a pun (you did get that, right?)**

 **I'm still not sure exactly how important Ink will end up being. I kind of like her character, and, more importantly, her dynamic with Will and Tenta, so she might come up more than I originally planned when I wrote her up.**

 **Oh, and just to be clear, we will be going to some Story Mode-based chapters soon. Probably Chapter 3. We'll see how Chapter 2 goes first.**

 **Read and review, por favor y gracias!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Honestly I wasn't planning on updating yet, but I got a review asking me a question, but it was a guest which means I can't respond to it privately (guys, if you log in/create an account before reviewing, especially if the review requires an answer, that'd be SUPER helpful! Thanks!)**

 **So, response for Vivi:  
I'm not completely sure what the problem here is, you weren't very clear. Am I doing poorly at identifying who is speaking/acting? Or do you just not know the characters yet? If it's the latter, that's to be expected- it's the first chapter. You're not going to know them very well for a little while. Or is it something else? Can you specify (and preferably with an account?)**

 **Also, just a note, I had scene dividers which evidently removed (insert irritated face here). So I'm trying to come up with a new way to do that- here's hoping it works this time around.**

 **Let's get going!**

"Where are you taking me?" Will whined as Tenta dragged him by the hand, Cole and Jonu in hot pursuit.

"Where else _would_ I take you?" Tenta asked, turning her head ever so slightly towards him as they stepped onto the subway. She led him to an empty bench and plopped down.

"That doesn't clear anything up," Will sighed as he sat next to her. Jonu and Cole sat down in the row behind them.

"Don't worry, it's not a long ride," Tenta assured, leaning back with a grin on her face. Will and Cole shared suspicious looks before relaxing as the train pulled out.

…

As the train pulled out of the tunnel, the first place Will looked was the window. Tenta was quick to cover his eyes before he could see it. "Heyyy!" he complained.

"I'm not letting the surprise be ruined this early," she responded.

"Oh! I get it now," Cole said quietly but was immediately shushed by Tenta. "What? I wasn't going to say where it is…"

After the train pulled to a stop, Tenta led Will to the door, still covering his eyes. "Please don't trip me," Will sighed, cautiously stepping forward.

"Don't you trust me at all?" Tenta asked.

Will was quick to respond, "No." Tenta rolled her eyes. "Can I look now?" he asked.

"Fine." Tenta removed her hands, revealing the Blackbelly Skate Park- Will's (and most of the rest of the group's) favorite hangout.

"Nice! The skate park!" Will cheered before running off.

"Um, your welcome?" Tenta scoffed before chasing after him, Cole close behind. Jonu, meanwhile, made his way towards a nearby bench and sat down.

…

A couple hours of Will, Tenta, and Cole skating on the rental skateboards (which, amusingly, looked like blackbelly skate) later, Tenta noticed that Jonu was still sitting on the bench and made her way over. "Come on, Jonu, get in on the fun!"

"I don't skate," Jonu mumbled, looking at his feet.

"I'll teach you," Tenta offered.

But Jonu still didn't relent. "No thanks." Tenta sighed and sat down next to him. "W-What are you doing?" he asked.

"If you're not going to have any fun, neither am I," she responded, putting her arms behind her head and leaning back. Jonu considered this threat.

"One time," he sighed as he stood up.

"Awesome!" Tenta leaped to her feet and dragged Jonu off.

…

A few minutes and bruises later, Tenta had released Jonu to return to his bench. Before he could sit down, though, he saw a strange red light in the distance. "Hm…" he murmured thoughtfully, considering the possibilities of what it could be. Deciding that he had awhile before Will, Cole, and Tenta got bored, he carefully climbed over the wall and made his way towards the light.

As he grew closer to it, he started to hear a quiet humming that got louder the closer he got, which only made him more suspicious. Finally, he reached the edge of the street, and stopped, not wanting to go any further without anyone knowing where he was. To his surprise, the light continued to glow brighter and the hum continued to grow louder- whatever it was, it was coming towards him. Fast.

He instinctively ducked as it got nearer, despite knowing that it was far above his head, and watched as it turned on a dime and took off again. A small, metallic disc with a bright red light on its bottom. He knew he recognized it, but couldn't think of why.

"Jonu, where are you?" he heard Tenta's voice calling from the skate park.

"O-On my way," he responded as loud as he could manage as he thought about this strange scenario before running back to his friends.

…

The next morning, Will was up and ready to go much earlier. Not by choice, exactly- he had barely slept at all the night before, and it wasn't that he had woken up as much as it was that he had given up on ever getting to sleep. Either way, though, he was up in time to catch the 10:00 AM Inkopolis News showing- a rare occasion for him.

"Hold on to your tentacles…"  
"It's Inkopolis news time!" The familiar opening gave him a very small amount of joy. At the very least, this served as a nice distraction. He waited for the stages for Turf Wars to be announced, but to his surprise, that wasn't what came next.

"News flash! News flash!" the ever-peppy Callie cried as she stared at her teleprompter in shock.

"What is it? What is it?" her more subdued cousin, Marie asked, looking around the studio.

Callie's eyes scrolled down the screen. "All of the Zapfish… have vanished?!"

"Wait, seriously?!"

Callie turned to her cousin. "If they aren't recovered soon, are we going to lose power?"

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine." Marie looked more like she was trying to convince herself than Callie or anyone else. "Probably."

Callie faced the teleprompter again and continued. "Until further investigation can be completed, all Turf Wars will be canceled."

"Shoot, and I really wanted to snipe some noobs today," Marie sighed.

"Well, that's all for now. Until next time…" Callie and Marie made eye contact to make sure they stayed in sync. "Staaaay fresh!"

With that, the program cut out. Will didn't really even care that the Zapfish were missing- all he cared about was that he now had an excuse to get out of battling Ink and her gang. He quickly got dressed and headed to the plaza, which was even more crowded than usual. It took awhile, but he eventually located Tenta, Cole, and Jonu.

"Did you hear the news?" he asked them.

"Are you kidding me? How could we _not_?" Cole remarked sarcastically, rolling his teal eyes. After all, that's all that everyone crowding the plaza could talk about- where did the Zapfish go?

"I guess we won't have to battle Ink," Will smirked proudly. A voice unexpectedly came from behind him behind him, saying, "Guess not." He whirled around to see Ink with a sly grin on her face and scowled at her. "Not today, anyhow. But there's always tomorrow." She winked at Will before starting to walk away. "See you then."

"Is it just me, or does she get creepier every time we see her?" Tenta asked, disgusted.

"So now what do we do?" Jonu sighed, bored. He winced as an Inkling backed into him.

Tenta's eyes lit up. "We could go shopping at Arowana Mall!" Tenta wasn't the most feminine Inkling out there, but she certainly enjoyed shopping.

"No way," Will was quick to respond.

Tenta scowled. "Come on! We went to your skate park yesterday."

"It was your idea," Cole pointed out. "Besides, we all enjoyed that." Jonu started to protest but was silenced when the conversation continued without him.

"I'll give you guys quarters for the arcade," Tenta offered. Will and Cole looked at each other as if mentally conversing over this.

"Fine, we're in," Will finally sighed. Tenta silently cheered before the group pushed their way through the crowd towards the splat line.

…

Taking in the satisfying silence of the subway car, Jonu once again began to mull over the events of the night before. Could his UFO be related to the disappearance of the Zapfish? And did anyone else see it?

"You okay, Jonu?" Tenta asked from behind him. He nearly leaped out of his skin at the sudden speech directly in his ear.

"Y-Yeah, I'm f-fine," he managed to stutter out as he tried to slow his heartbeat.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked. Cole and Will, who had taken the opportunity of the empty subway car to sit on the other side and avoid Tenta's chatter, didn't pay any attention to the conversation.

"N-Nothing," he insisted. A moment of silence, then suddenly and without warning, Tenta smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" he whined.

"Thinking I'm stupid enough to believe that," she responded. Jonu rubbed his sore head. "You have one more chance: What were you thinking about?"

"One more chance until…?" Jonu asked.

Tenta raised an eyebrow. "You really want to find out?"

No. "Last night… I saw something," Jonu explained.

"Stars?" Tenta guessed. "You hit your head pretty hard on that first fall. …And every fall after that."

"An Octarian UFO," Jonu corrected. Tenta looked at him in disbelief.

"That's impossible."

"I know… But now the Zapfish are missing. It has to be related, right?"

Tenta thought about this. "You don't think the Octarians stole them, do you?"

"I don't know what else it could be." They both fell back into silence.

 **So now we've started off on the actual plot. Well, kind of. I have an idea for how Cap'n Cuttlefish will get involved… I kind of can't wait to write Chapter 3.**

 **Read and review por favor y gracias.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay, time for another update!**

… **That's all I have to say.**

Arowana Mall was remarkably empty compared to the crowded space that was Inkopolis Plaza. In fact, besides Will, Jonu, Tenta, and Cole, the only other Inklings in sight were two orange-tentacled girls, Ink, and a rather elderly Inkling who almost seemed to be following the group. Not that they had time to consider that this may be the case - between Tenta digging through shelves and Will, Jonu, and Cole desperately trying to catch the clothing and merchandise she tossed at them lest she scolds them for being clumsy, the group had used up all of their focus.

…

But in a dark corner of the mall, far out of sight from the group and the other patrons of the mall, something sinister was going on.

"Inking is illegal outside of turf wars," a strangely dome-shaped creature with two appendages sticking out of its head was telling its companions- another similarly shaped creature with only one appendage, and two Inkling-like creatures with wilder hair. "So the Inklings will be completely helpless. Take out a hundred or two, I'll give the dramatic 'end of an era' speech to the rest, and war will break out in no time."

"Got it, boss," the other dome-shaped creature sputtered gleefully while one of the Inkling creatures saluted. The remaining army member was less enthusiastic.

"Whatever," she said with a scowl.

"Octiana…" Though no further words were said, it was clear the other Inkling creature was reprimanding her companion.

"Don't talk to me like that," Octiana snarled back. "Let's just get this over with so that we can go home, okay?" She held up a gun and made her way towards the light. As the two dome-shaped creatures each climbed up on strange machinery, the other Inkling creature ran to Octiana's side.

"What's your problem, anyway?" she asked Octiana.

"I dunno, maybe it's that this whole thing shouldn't be my problem," Octiana responded, whirling on her follower, startling her into stepping back. "What's wrong with Octo Valley, huh? And why isn't the _great and almighty king_ ," she said this part with obvious venom, "out here battling for himself?"

"It's not our place to question the king," the other girl insisted.

"Maybe that's your problem, Octienne," Octiana said, calmer now. "Maybe we aren't seeing the whole picture." With that, Octiana stormed off, leaving Octienne behind to ponder her words.

…

"Why do you need so many School Uniforms, anyway?" Will asked Tenta as she dug through a rack of them.

"Because I need to be able to recover ink quickly," Tenta replied. "Unless you want me to be unable to save your butts because I'm busy refilling."

"That doesn't explain why you need… nine… _Eleven_?!" Will gaped as he counted them.

"Twelve," Tenta replied as she tossed yet another one into his arms. "The _amiibo_ brand's boosts are really hard to predict. So if I end up with Bomb Range Up, it's pretty useless for me. The more I have, the more likely I am to get a useful ability."

Jonu considered this. "The logic _is_ there… It's not very sound logic, but it's there." He was immediately silenced when Tenta glared at him, a light shade of pink covering his face.

"You guys are just jealous that I have the _amiibo_ shopping card and you don't," Tenta retorted.

"They're impossible to find!" Cole whined. Tenta started to reply, but their argument was cut off by a loud crash from outside. Given the empty state of the mall, there were few obvious explanations for this, so they decided to go look for themselves.

To their surprise and horror, a group of Octarians was standing on top of one of the walls - an Octotrooper, a Twintacle Octotrooper, and two Octolings.

"Is that what I think it is?" Cole asked, his voice little more than a squeak. Jonu nodded, even less able to articulate words than usual.

"I don't suppose any of you snuck some ink into your weapons, did you?" Will asked. Various forms of no came from Jonu, Cole, Tenta, and one of the two Inkling girls. "Then we're in big trouble."

…

"Why are there only eight people here?" the Twintacle Octotrooper asked his followers.

"Probably because everyone's at Inkopolis Plaza," Octiana replied, obviously bored. The Twintacle Octotrooper smacked the other Octotrooper in the back of the head with his tentacle.

"You idiot! Why didn't we go there?!" he demanded.

"T-This was your idea boss," the Octotrooper replied through tears.

"Calm down, October," Octienne told the Twintacle Octotrooper. "Don't abuse Octavino like that. You know he's already had a pretty rough life."

The Octotrooper, Octavino, nodded to October, still crying. October rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Taking out seven kids and an old guy is still pretty terrifying. Move in, troops."

"Finally," Octiana sighed as she leaped off the wall, firing her Octoshot at the terrified Inklings. Octienne jumped off after her, while Octavino stayed on the platform with October, firing from a distance.

…

Without the turf war's respawn badges, being hit by octo ink was a serious threat for the Inklings. While they would be harder to take out than in a turf war, they would be killed. One hundred percent dead.

With this in mind, the two orange Inkling girls took off screaming, dodging the octo ink on their way to the exit, while Will, Jonu, Cole, Tenta, and Ink dove behind shelves and walls in nearby stores.

"I should have known better than to follow you," Ink scowled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will asked as a blob of octo ink flew over his shelf, coating the clothing on it but barely missing the boy.

"It means you always bring me bad luck," Ink replied. A yelp from the other side of the mall kept Will from responding. Octiana had taken out Jonu's cover and was aiming her Octoshot at him.

"Hey, don't touch him!" Tenta yelled, jumping out from behind her cover and tackling the Octoling. She was quickly flung off, and Octiana changed her aim towards the girl.

"You'd better not splat my sister!" Cole joined in on the brawl, running headlong into the Octoling and knocking her off balance, allowing Tenta and Jonu to recover. Although Octiana was subdued, her Octoshot flipping through the air and landing just where Ink could grab it, Octienne fired a warning shot from behind them, hitting Cole in the back of the head, but doing minimal damage.

"No!" Will yelled, trying to run to his friends, but Ink held him back.

"Stop it! You're just going to get yourself splatted, too," Ink warned. Will tried to protest, but he knew Ink was right and watched Cole, Jonu, and Tenta as Octienne aimed her Octoshot at them.

But out of nowhere, a blast of orange ink creamed her from behind and she was splatted, her respawn ghost floating through the ceiling of the mall and far away. "What?! No!" October cried. Everyone in the room looked at the source - the old man. More specifically, the old man's cane. Which was now pointed right at October and Octavino.

"Retreat!" Octavino screamed in terror as he attempted to do so, but was cut off by being splatted, his respawn ghost following Octienne's.

"Next time, someone else is in charge of the plan!" October groaned as he met the same fate as his two companions did.

The immediate threats having been taken out, Tenta leaped up and ran to the old man. "Is that a Bamboozler 14 Mk. I?" she asked excitedly. "I've always wanted one of those!"

"Nope," the man replied with a grin. "It's a Bamboozler 12."

"A Bambooz… But those were only used in the Great Turf War," Jonu spoke up as Ink helped him up, Will and Cole busy making sure Octiana stayed subdued.

Ink's eyes lit up. "Wait a second," she said, dropping Jonu with a thunk. She walked over to the old man, who posed proudly. "I knew you looked familiar!"

"Who is he?" Tenta asked, annoyed by Ink's lack of clarity.

"Duh," Ink replied, whirling on her. "It's Cap'n Cuttlefish!"

"That's me," the man confirmed. Tenta and Jonu were left speechless, while Will and Cole walked up, holding Octiana's hands behind her back.

"Would you let me go?" she snarled. "I can't do anything without my Octoshot anyway."

"You can run," Cole pointed out.

Will struggled to hold Octiana in place before noticing Tenta and Jonu's stunned expressions. "Did we miss something?" Ink rolled her eyes.

"So what are we gonna do with this prisoner here?" Cuttlefish asked, pointing the cane at her.

"Yes, _please_ splat me," Octiana insisted. "I'm seriously done with all of this."

"Wait, no, don't," Will said before Cuttlefish pulled the trigger. "She'll just respawn in Octo Valley and be able to attack again. It's bad enough the other three are still out there."

"Trust me, I won't ever attack again if I have any say in it," Octiana promised. "This entire thing is just stupid."

Ignoring her, Cuttlefish turned to Will. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

"Lock her up," Jonu interrupted, a rare occurrence. "Somewhere where we can interrogate her. I want to know if my suspicions were right."

"Sounds like a plan," Cuttlefish agreed. "Come with me, I have a secret base." He chuckled as Will, Tenta, Cole, Jonu, Ink, and Octiana followed her.

"Enjoy your prison, Octoling," Ink spat at Octiana.

Octiana considered her fate. "It's gotta be better than hanging out with October."

 **And there we go! New character, Ink has been sealed into her role as major heroine (kind of), and Cuttlefish has arrived. The plot is falling together! Yay!**

… **So yeah, read and review por favor y gracias.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm starting to wonder if people know what "Read and review por favor y gracias" means, because I seem to be getting a lot of readers and not many reviews... Maybe I need a new way to say that that's clearer? Or maybe I can just guilt you into it. Well, let's try the latter this time.**

 **That said, let's get on with the story.**

" _This_ is your secret base?" Ink asked, obviously disappointed as her nose wrinkled.

"Ab-sol-utely!" Cuttlefish confirmed, completely oblivious to (or perhaps ignorant of) Ink's less-than-impressed expression. The structure standing before them was barely worthy of being called a structure, and was really just a few planks leaned precariously up against each other. Whatever it could accurately be called, it was on the far outskirts of Inkopolis, accessible only through the Inkopolis sewer system (a very unpleasant experience for everyone except Cuttlefish).

"Well, it's something alright," Tenta said, looking at it.

Cuttlefish grinned proudly. "Why, thank you, ma'am!" Tenta stifled a laugh as she walked back over to Jonu.

"Wow, you guys really are stupid," Octiana finally spoke as she looked around.

"It's not that bad of a hideout," Will defended the old man.

Octiana rolled her eyes. "That's not what I'm talking about. Although, it is pretty dumb too." Once again, Cuttlefish was oblivious to her rudeness. "You guys realize that the Octarians are literally hiding right across that chasm?" She pointed across said chasm, which could be crossed with an Inkrail, where a number of grates could be seen.

"What? Really?" Cuttlefish asked, squinting to see across the chasm. "I thought those were just kettles for my grandsquids' tea."

"…I'm not sure how to respond to that," Octiana remarked.

"You're awfully willing to give out classified information," Will remarked, an eyebrow raised.

Octiana shrugged. "Did you expect me to just repeat my name and 'identification number'? You're not letting me go anytime soon, and those guys never did anything for me anyway. I don't see why I should be so loyal to their secrets when all they did was push me around."

Will looked at her sympathetically. Ink, however, was less so. "Oh, wah-wah-wah. Cap'n, where's the prison you said you had for her?"

"Oh! Right!" Cuttlefish hobbled over to behind the shack, and, with quite a bit of effort, managed to bring out a gigantic snow globe.

"What the heck is that thing?" Octiana asked.

"A snow globe prison, of course!" Cuttlefish said cheerfully.

Octiana looked unimpressed. "Will I be able to _breathe_?"

"Oh, of course! Probably." Without any further explanation, Cuttlefish had Will and Cole boost him and the still tied up Octiana on top, opened a door, pushed her in, and closed the door back.

"Well, this is… special…" Octiana remarked.

"Oh, here, I got you a pillow, too." Cuttlefish swung the door back open and threw the pillow down. It hit Octiana right on top of the head. She winced before grabbing it.

"…Thanks."

…

"So what are we going to do about the rest of the Octarians?" Will asked Cuttlefish.

"Well, I guess we could-" Cuttlefish paused. "We?"

"Yeah! We want to help," Tenta agreed, putting her arm on Will's shoulder.

"Anything to help Inkopolis," Cole nodded, stepping up next to his sister.

"I didn't sign up for this," Ink protested. Will, Tenta, and Cole glared at her. "…But I guess if it's for Inkopolis… I'll see what I can do."

Everyone turned to Jonu, who was just staring at the ground with his hands in his pockets. It took him a minute to realize everyone was staring at him. When he did, he jumped back and his face turned bright red. "I-I-I don't know…"

"Come on, Jonu, don't you want to help save Inkopolis?" Will asked.

"Um, yeah…" Jonu nodded, looking at the ground again. "But I'll just get in the way."

Tenta rolled her eyes. "Don't act like that, Jonu. If you just got in the way, do you think you'd be part of our squad?" Jonu blushed even harder.

"Yeah, you're an important part of our team," Cole agreed. "Without you, we're all just a bunch of jokers."

Will nodded. "It takes all four of us."

Ink squinted at them. "Thanks for making me feel like a fifth wheel. Now that we're done being mushy, what's the plan?"

 **Short chapter cuz it's almost midnight and I gotta be up early tomorrow. But here ya go.**


	5. Chapter 5

"We need to find out how the Octarians are getting to Inkopolis so easily," Cuttlefish mused. "If we can shut that down, we'll have more time to develop an actual battle plan." Jonu's eyes lit up and he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"I guess that's _kind of_ a plan," Will remarked. "But how do we plan on finding that out?" Jonu tried to speak again, but Cole spoke first.

"I'm sure Miss Octoling over there would tell us if we asked." Ink watched with a raised eyebrow as Jonu once again started to interject, to no avail.

"Alright, so which one of us gets to interrogate her?" Tenta asked.

Will scratched his chin, ignoring Jonu's attempted speech once again. "She doesn't really like any of us, so I'm not sure who would-"

"Um, hello?" Ink finally interrupted with a snarl. "To be a group that takes four, it seems a lot like only three talking right now." Will, Tenta, and Cole looked confused, so Ink continued. "Jonu has been trying to tell you something this whole time, but you keep interrupting. If this is what you call teamwork, it's no wonder he thinks he just gets in the way."

Will, Tenta, and Cole looked rather embarrassed, but before they could apologize, Ink turned to Jonu. "And they aren't the only problem. You want to not just be in the way? _Get involved_. You're never going to accomplish anything if you can't speak up. If they won't listen to you, _make them listen_. Otherwise, they never will." When Jonu was obviously too flustered to respond, Ink added, "That means right now."

"I already know how they get to Inkopolis," Jonu blurted.

"What? You do?" Cole asked, confused.

Tenta smacked her forehead. "Of course! The UFO!"

"Right," Jonu nodded in affirmation. "I saw it - at the skatepark. Just before the Zapfish disappeared. I'm sure that's how the Octarian troops got to the mall too."

"Well, now we know that, what are we going to do with this information?" Will asked, looking to Cuttlefish, who just shrugged.

"You kids seem to know how to handle this fine. I think I'll just go make some tea." He started to hobble away but paused. "Lemon tea or milk tea?"

"Lemon." "Milk please." "Milk for me." "Lemon's fine." "I'll take milk." Answers provided, Cuttlefish left.

"Plans?" Tenta urged.

Ink thought for a moment. "I'd say we should ask our prisoner where the UFOs come from."

"Makes sense to me," Jonu agreed, albeit quietly.

"Who's gonna do it?" Cole asked.

Will tentatively raised his hand. "I will."

"Tea's ready!" Cuttlefish called from the shack.

"Have fun with that," Ink said and ran to the old man, followed by Tenta, Cole, and Jonu. Will looked to Octiana, who was half-asleep in her snowglobe, took a deep breath, and walked towards her.

When she noticed him, Octiana sat up. "Oh my, a visitor! Pardon the mess, I didn't have time to clean up." At the end of this sarcastic remark, she threw the pillow aside. It slid up the side of the sphere and fell back onto her head. She moaned, and Will stifled a laugh. "What do you want, squid?" she asked venomously.

Will looked at her for a second. "Just wanted to know how you were doing."

"Oh, _fabulously_. Besides being trapped in a giant snowglobe. That part's pretty lousy." Will didn't respond. "What are you really here for?" Octiana asked.

"Tell me your name," Will responded.

"…Excuse me?"

"I don't know your name. What is it?"

Octiana looked confused. "Octiana."

"I'm Will. Nice to meet you."

"Okay…" Not sure what else to do, Octiana adjusted her goggles.

"Those don't look very comfortable," Will remarked. Octiana just shrugged. "Actually, none of your armor does."

"Are you hitting on me?" Octiana asked.

"No," Will replied, suddenly flustered. "Just making an observation." Octiana looked at him suspiciously.

"It isn't," she finally said, peeling her goggles off over her head and revealing her teal eyes. Will smiled slightly.

"Is that standard issue for Octolings?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Octiana responded.

"Is it actually effective as armor?"

"There's not really much armor that works against ink," she pointed out.

"Fair enough," Will chuckled. "So why do they make you wear it?"

"I don't know, another excuse to make me miserable, I guess." Octiana shrugged and leaned back on her pillow. Will's smile slowly faded.

"Are the Octarians really that terrible?"

"What do you mean?" Octiana asked, turning to look at him.

"You said they've never done anything for you… Are they really that terrible?"

Octiana had to think about this. She rolled back over onto her back. "Well… I don't know… I mean, I've had a pretty okay life, I guess. I've lived it underground, but… I just feel like I don't belong, I guess." She sighed and turned back to Will. "I don't suppose you know anything about that."

Will sat down next to the globe. "I wouldn't say that."

Octiana laughed. "You're kidding, right? What would you, a perfect little Inkling, know about not belonging?"

Will shrugged. "Everything I've ever known… It's always been the same. Wake up, go to a turf war, play an arcade game, buy a new outfit, go home, start all over again. Everyone always follows this same dumb pattern. It's all they live for. Battles, games, and clothes. That's all there is to do, so why wouldn't they? But I just feel like… I feel like there's _more_. Like I'm missing out on something."

The two made eye contact, a feeling of mutual understanding between them. Finally, Octiana spoke. "So are you going to tell me why you came over here or not?"

"Right," Will said, standing up. "We need to know where the Octarians are getting the UFOs."

Octiana considered this for a moment before looking away. "Third kettle to the right of the tower with the grate on top."

Somewhat surprised at how easy that was, Will grinned. "Thanks." He took off back to Cuttlefish's shack, leaving Octiana alone.

 **Character building! Wow!**

 **Uh, yeah, that's basically it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long (long long long long long) wait. To make it up to you guys I'll try to make this chapter a little longer, but I gotta be in bed soon so no promises.**

"You kids sure you want to do this?" Cuttlefish questioned in a much more serious tone than usual. In front of him, the five Inklings were suiting up in what Cuttlefish had prepared for armor: yellow jackets and a simple pair of shoes. They also wore what resembled the respawn badges from turf wars, although older and more damaged.

"Of course we are," Will answered, looking at his teammates. While Tenta and Cole nodded bravely, Jonu stood perfectly still, looking up at the sky, his breaths slow and controlled.

"Just one question," Ink spoke up, moving a piece of her yellow hair behind her shoulder. "Why the heck are we wearing these tacky outfits?"

"They're Hero Suits!" Cuttlefish responded with a wide grin, his previous tone replaced by his usual joyful voice.

"That… doesn't answer my question."

"One last thing, though," the old man added, ignoring Ink (if he had even heard her in the first place) and reaching into a cardboard box that was behind him, pulling out five headsets. "These'll let me communicate with you while you're out there. And you can communicate with each other, too."

Each Inkling took a pair and placed them on their heads, Ink reluctantly.

"Good luck out there," Cuttlefish noted, once again serious. He watched as Will stepped forward and turned to look at his teammates, making eye contact with each of them, his intent clear to everyone - he was the leader. No one, not even Ink, argued.

"Let's go," Will said firmly, walking towards one of the orange pads, which Cuttlefish had set up to make sure the Inklings couldn't harm each other during their battle with the Octarians. As each of them stood on it, they were coated in orange ink, and once it faded away their colors faded to the same shade. Ready to go, they all leaped into the kettle Octiana had directed them to in squid form, mentally preparing themselves for their mission.

…

Will was the first to emerge from the kettle and looked at his surroundings. At first glance, it resembled your typical area of Inkopolis - blue skies with buildings in the distance. However, as Will continued to look, he started to recognize shadows on what appeared to be the sky, and the occasional gap between the sky-like panels revealing the true surroundings: rocks. They were deep underground, where the Octarians were banished. Tenta, Cole, Jonu, and Ink appeared from the kettle one-by-one behind him.

"Can you hear me?" a voice echoed from their headsets. Cuttlefish. Will pushed a button on his Splattershot and answered, "Yessir."

"Good. Give 'em heck, agents!" With this encouragement, the new heroes took a moment to develop a plan.

They all stood on a small metallic platform, far away from the main portions of what appeared to be a UFO factory, based on the towering structures in a distance with UFOs on top. Ahead of them was a small pad, an Octarian technology Cuttlefish had earlier explained to be a jump pad, which would automatically send them to the factory, presumably the nearest structure. Will examined it.

"Alright," he spoke quietly to avoid being detected. "Jonu and Ink, you go first. If my guess is correct, you should land on that structure over there, behind the wall. Jonu, use your Roller to create a puddle of ink large enough for us all to hide in, leading to the wall, and Ink, coat the side. When you're done, quietly tell us."

"And if your guess is wrong?" Ink questioned.

"Call us. Your Blaster and Roller combo should protect you until we can get there if any Octarians are around."

The plan seemed sound enough. Ink and Jonu stood on the jump pad, being automatically turned into squids and launched, as Will predicted, to the nearest structure. Two Octotroopers stood nearby, but only barely noticed the arriving squids as they hid behind the wall. Once the Octotroopers had stopped looking in their direction, they began to spread the ink.

"When we get over there, Tenta, hide in the ink on the wall to snipe if things get messy. Remember, we only have three respawn charges left on these things." He tapped his badge. "Cole, wait until I get a small ink path prepared around the wall, then squid through. You and Ink will take a single shot on each of the two Octotrooper to take them out, then we'll survey the area." Tenta and Cole nodded.

"We're ready," Ink whispered into the headset as Will finished. Looking at his teammates to confirm the plan, Will stepped into the jump pad. Seconds later, the three inklings had landed in the ink Jonu had prepared. The presence of three blasts piqued the Octotroopers' interests once more, but the heroes were able to duck into squid form and hide in it, going completely unnoticed as the Octotroopers turned away. Will carefully emerged from squid form and peered over the wall to confirm that they weren't watching, then turned and used his Splattershot to make two lines leading away from it on either side. Checking once more to see if they had noticed him, he then stepped just outside of the wall to take another shot, creating a line of ink moving towards the Octarians, and repeated on the other side. The Octotroopers remained oblivious, looking into the distance and having a conversation.

Cole had meanwhile silently given the second step of the plan to Ink by pointing at the paths Will was creating and the Octarians. Ink was able to quickly determine what Cole was saying, and when Will finished, gave him a nod of affirmation. Tenta squidded up the wall while Will and Jonu ducked into the ink to stay hidden. Once their three teammates were gone, Cole and Ink quietly swam through Will's paths to get as close to the Octotroopers as possible.

Cole went first since his Splatling required charging and Ink's Blaster did not, so her splatting one Octotrooper would alert the other to their presence before Cole could land a blow. However, as soon as Ink, who carefully listened to hear the Splatling's charging mechanisms, which were too far away for the Octotroopers to hear, knew Cole's charging was complete, she also emerged from the ink and they both fired at the same time. Before the Octotroopers realized what was happening, they were both puddles of orange and a pair of respawn ghosts.

"Alright, now they know there are intruders, so we gotta act fast," Will noted as he, Tenta, and Jonu emerged from the wall. "It doesn't look like there are a lot of guards around, though, so we should be fine." He surveyed the rest of the platform. Puddles of Octarian ink separated them from the next jump pad, but that was all. The next platform appeared to have a few more Octotroopers, these Twintacle, which he assumed were already aware of the intruders and would be quicker to react to their arrival via the jump pad.

"I'll go first this time and fire a path of ink as I land," Will decided. "Cole and Ink, you follow me and help me take out the Octotroopers when we get there. Once we're in battle, Jonu, you jump over and use your Roller to splash the troopers as you fly, taking them off-guard. Tenta, stay over here. This platform should be close enough for you to get some snipe shots in if you aim carefully."

"I always aim carefully," Tenta responded proudly, leaning on her Charger. The other three Inklings confirmed their understanding of the plan as Jonu began to roll a path through the Octo Ink ahead to the jump pad.

However, he was suddenly startled out of his rolling when a pair of Octotroopers wearing snorkels emerged from the ink directly in front of him. "Wah!" he cried in shock as he fell back, dropping his Roller which fell out of reach into the Octo Ink.

"Nice plan, but you didn't take us into account," one of them mocked as he aimed his gun, attached to the machinery he stood upon, at Jonu. Ink reacted quickly, firing her Blaster at him and splatting him in one shot. The ink from the Octodiver's explosion hit his partner, splatting him as well. Jonu quickly stood up and got his Roller, which Will painted orange ink around to keep any more Octodivers from emerging.

"I didn't know Octarians could dive into ink, besides Octolings," Cole noted under his breath.

"That changes our plan a little," Will sighed. "But there isn't a lot we can do to predict them. Pay close attention and don't get caught off-guard. We all should be able to take them out quickly if they do try to sneak up on us again."

Mentally prepared for whatever surprises could be ahead, the five began the second step of their plan as Will stepped onto the jump pad. As before, he was automatically turned into a squid, but this time transformed back as he began to fall back down, spraying the area beneath him with his own ink. Seeing him coming, the two Octotroopers on the platform turned on their devices and began moving close to the landing platform, which was lower than where they stood. However, when they got to the edge, they were met by an onslaught of ink from Will and began to flee to avoid being splatted.

Will's shots created a nice path up to the higher portion of the platform, which he, Cole, and Ink made their way up when the two other Inklings arrived. Only one Octotrooper was in sight, so Will began firing at him while Cole charged up his Splatling and Ink searched for the other. As the Octotrooper's shots began hitting Will, Jonu arrived and splashed ink off his Roller, which hit the Octotrooper in the head and splatted it.

However, the other Octotrooper suddenly approached from behind Will and Cole. "On your six!" Jonu cried to alert his friends, but all they had time to do was dive into the ink and swim through the first Octotrooper's remains as their new enemy began to fire upon them, slowly closing up the space they had to hide. A blast from Tenta's Charger suddenly hit it, though not enough to splat it due to her distance. It did distract it from firing on Will and Cole, which allowed Ink to land the final blow with her Blaster as she arrived on the scene. As Tenta leaped over to them, Will began spraying the Octo Ink away to search for more Octodivers.

"Going well so far," Ink stated, a rare smile appearing on her face. The only remaining platform was where the UFOs were being kept.

"How are we going to destroy those?" Cole questioned.

"I doubt we can," Will answered, scratching his chin. "It's their best means of travel. I'm sure it's ink-proof."

"The little ink-spraying machines they ride on aren't," Tenta pointed out.

"Still, we shouldn't plan on them ignoring the main weapon of both sides. We need another way."

"I wonder how they powered all of these lights," Jonu wondered as he looked at a light below the platform, which was aimed at the sky to simulate the sun. "Sorry, off-topic."

Will's eyes lit up like the light. "No, that's it! Look at what they're doing over there." The Octarians surrounding the UFOs were unarmed but wielded power tools that they were using on some of the UFOs.

"Fixing UFOs?" Tenta responded, questioning how this was relevant.

"With electricity," Will elaborated. "Where do you think they got electricity hundreds of miles underground?"

It took a moment, but Jonu was the first to figure out what Will was insinuating. "A Zapfish. That's why they took them, to speed up the UFO-making process."

"And probably to panic us too, but that's beside the point." He pointed at a glowing object at the top of the tower that the Octarians stood underneath. "That's probably our Zapfish." He immediately set to planning how they could get it and finished less than a minute later.

"Besides any of those diving Octotroopers, none of the Octarians over there seem to be armed," he noted. "There are probably weapons nearby, but if we move fast enough we can take them out before they get to them. Once they're all gone, Cole and I can ink the sides of that tower and we'll swim up to get the Zapfish. Ink, Tenta, and Jonu, find some way to damage the UFOs enough that it'll take a lot of work to get them into working order - without electricity."

The team nodded in affirmation and all stepped on the jump pad at roughly the same time. As they fell back to the ground, Will began firing to make a path for them, while Jonu splashed his Roller to take out a couple Octarians. However, as they moved towards the tower to take out the last few panicking mechanics, three Octodivers appeared to block the path.

Ink quickly fired a shot at one of them, but it dove back under the ink to dodge, and Ink found her tank empty. However, this distraction gave Cole enough time to charge his Splatling, which he fired on the ground underneath the center Octodiver, keeping it from diving long enough for Will fire upon it and splat it. The other two were damaged by their teammate's explosion, but survived and began firing on the team, who managed to escape an immediate splat by diving into the Octodiver's remains, which recharged Ink's Blaster. Unable to dive due to the orange ink left by the first Octarian, a second Octodiver was splatted, while a shot from Tenta's Charger took out the third and final.

Unfortunately, the Octodiver attack gave the Octarian mechanics enough time to activate an intimidating piece of equipment: a Flooder.

"What is _that_ thing?" Cole asked in a panicked voice as the machine rolled near them, pouring Octo Ink out of its bottom.

"I don't know, but don't let it go over you," Will answered, spraying an escape route around the Flooder. The five Inklings dodged it before making quick work of the remaining mechanics, whose respawn ghosts flew far into the distance, past the surrounding sky paneling. Will and Cole began to ink the sides of the tower and headed to the top while Tenta, Ink, and Jonu dodged the Flooder. Once Will had sprayed the bubble surrounding the Zapfish with ink, which popped it, the Flooder, and all of the power tools left by Octarians, powered down.

"So how are we going to destroy the UF-" Before Jonu could finish his question, Tenta had climbed onto one of the UFOs and began jumping on it, denting it. She paused for a moment.

"You guys gonna help?" While Jonu was more reluctant, Ink gladly climbed onto the UFO and began jumping. The combined weight of the two female Inklings was enough to not only dent it but knock a hole in it. Some sparks fired out of its damaged wiring. Tenta and Ink grinned at each other, before immediately realizing who they were grinning at and awkwardly turning away, forcing scowls.

"That was an okay idea," Ink grumbled.

"Good thing you're heavy enough to accomplish it," Tenta replied. Ink's jaw dropped.

…

After all of the UFOs were destroyed, the five Inklings returned to the kettle with the Zapfish, emerging back at Cuttlefish's base.

"Ah, you made it back!" Cuttlefish cheered as Octiana watched from her prison. "You've been quiet on the radios for awhile, I was getting nervous."

"Look what we found," Cole grinned, holding up the Zapfish. Cuttlefish gasped.

"That's excellent! And the UFOs?"

"Destroyed, thanks to Tenta and Ink," Will replied.

"Good work, kids," Cuttlefish smiled proudly.

"Now we just need to get back the other Zapfish," Jonu mused.

"I don't think we need to worry too much about that right now," Cuttlefish responded. "I've been watching the news. Looks like Inkopolis has enough power in reserve to last for a good couple months, and that Zapfish you've found will extend that plenty! You kids worked hard, but why don't you relax tomorrow? The Turf Wars are opening back up."

"Which means we can get that rematch," Ink grinned, her eye twinkling with mischief. Will gulped. "Don't worry, I won't be too hard on you… probably."

"Whatever," Tenta replied. "Your team is no problem for us."

Ink rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well… We'll just have to see tomorrow, huh?" Her four rivals nodded.

"See you then, Ink," Will responded bravely, holding his hand out. Ink was surprised, but tentatively reached out and shook it.

"Yeah, uh," she answered, stuttering nervously. "See you then."

 **Whoo! First mission for the agents went great! I was a little worried that they were too good at the whole agent-y thing, but given that so is that player I think it's fine haha.**

 **I think this one is longer? It sure took longer to write. It was action-packed too, relatively speaking.**

 **We'll learn more about Octarians and their plans soon, but first let's let the kids have a taste of normalcy again, right?**

 **Read and review, por favor y gracias!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Possibly quick update? I started this the day after but idk when I'll finish xD**

The next morning began like any other as Will was startled awake by Tenta knocking at the window.

"Can't a hero of Inkopolis get a couple extra hours of sleep?" Will moaned, shoving his face into his pillow. Tenta rolled her eyes as she climbed into his room through the window and yanked the pillow out from underneath him. His face bounced off the mattress.

"Nope," she responded, hitting him with the pillow until he rolled over and sat up. "Turf war rematch, remember?"

Will sighed, rubbing the red spot on his bare back from where the hits had landed. "Unfortunately."

"You gonna be okay?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I have a choice?" Tenta wasn't sure how to respond to the question, even though they both knew the answer.

"Get dressed," she said, turning back to the window and starting to climb out of it. "Ink and the squad are waiting at the tower."

…

Inkopolis Plaza had returned to normal, with Inklings seemingly not even remembering the previous day's events. Despite their heroic actions, few of the Inklings that Will and Tenta walked past even batted an eye at their presence, as they had all agreed (Ink rather reluctantly) to have Cuttlefish return the Zapfish anonymously in order to avoid conflicting with their carefree lifestyle. Although it had been Will's idea, he subconsciously wished that he, and his friends, had received recognition for their actions.

Cole, Jonu, Ink, and Ink's teammates - who Will had never bothered to learn the names of - were waiting inside the tower, and after a few moments the battle was ready to start. Ink had arranged a private battle, which meant that they got to pick the stage and would be able to compete on Mahi-Mahi Resort regardless of the maps in the rotation, much to Will's dismay. The teleport pads appeared shortly, one light blue and the other orange.

As the battle started, the four Inklings began as they had last time - Jonu covered the turf surrounding the spawn, Tenta searched for vantage points for sniping, and Cole took to the center of the map to stop Ink and her team from taking it. This time, Will moved quicker, trying to keep his mind off the water, and sprayed Cole a path of light blue ink, which gave the boy a large boost in speed due to his Krak-On 528's Swim Speed Up ability. As Cole sped off, Will watched as Jonu leaped gracefully to the platforms floating near the spawn, and dashed to follow him for defensive support.

However, when he reached the edge of the spawn zone, he froze as his eyes fell on the water below. Gulping deeply, he took a few steps back before shutting his eyes and making a run and jump, slipping as he landed safely on the other side and only barely managing to remain upright.

From this new location, he could see the center of the map, where Cole and Ink's Slosher-wielding buddy were duking it out, taking turns ducking behind cover and leaping out to fire. Carefully positioning himself on the edge of his platform, waited for the opponent to step out from behind cover, and hurled a Suction Bomb at him. Before he had time to react, he was coated in the light blue ink, damaged and slowed enough for Cole to land the final blow. As his respawn ghost floated away, Cole gave a thumbs up to Will and shouted, "Booyah!"

…

The match was almost halfway over, signaled by the water receding. Will had managed to mostly avoid water throughout the match, a feat he considered quite impressive, as he protected the platform with the spawn from being invaded by Ink's team. Noticing Ink approaching from the platforms near the spawn, Will dove into the ink and swam stealthily to where she was coming. As she landed on the platform, he emerged to begin firing upon her, only to be suddenly splashed with orange ink as one of her teammates, strangely wielding a Roller, which he had never seen any of them wield before, arrived from close behind her, followed by the Sloshing Machine-wielding Inkling. Realizing he was outnumbered as his three opponents aimed their weapons at him, Will attempted to dive out of the way, only to be shot by a Charger in the distance and splatted.

As he respawned, he saw that Ink's two companions had begun covering turf while Ink still stood near the spawn and her Charger-wielding partner stood at his vantage point, armed and ready to fire if Will moved off of the safety of the spawn to take Ink out.

"That was a nice technique you came up with yesterday," Ink noted with a vicious smirk. "I had to use it for myself."

Will tried to scowl angrily, but in truth, he was more impressed that his technique was as effective in a Turf War as it was against Octarians, and that Ink had pulled it off so flawlessly on its inventor. Instead, he pressed a button on his respawn badge, sending a call for help to his three teammates. Recognizing this, Ink fled to join back up with her teammates for safety in numbers while her sniper began to search for Tenta, expecting her to emerge from hiding any second.

If she did emerge, she did it without notice, as Ink and her Slosher-loving buddy were splatted by her shots before anyone located her. Cole, meanwhile, arrived behind the distracted Charger-wielding enemy and fired upon him, taking him out, and Will and Jonu tag-teamed the remaining enemy, who was helpless once alone.

Even so, as the clock ticked down, Will mentally acknowledged that they had lost a lot of turf thanks to Ink's plan and that any attempts to recover it would just result in their opponents taking the turf at the center of the map, and he quickly tried to formulate a plan.

"Cole, head to the enemy base and try to distract them," he whispered as Cole landed next to him. "Tenta will probably keep sniping anyone who arrives in the central area until she gets discovered. Jonu and I will stay here and try to make up for lost time." Cole nodded in affirmation before swimming off at high speeds.

…

"TIME!" called the announcer as all of the weapons locked up. The eight Inklings glanced around the map, unsure as to which team had won, before making their ways back to the teleport pads, dodging ink of the opposing color to avoid any unnecessary pain.

Once they all were returned to Inkopolis Tower, and back in their normal colors, they stared expectantly at the screen for the results, knowing that somewhere the map was being shown to Judd to be calculated. Since several Turf Wars could occur at the same time, there was no telling how long it could take for Judd to get to theirs.

Fortunately, it wasn't very long before the drum roll began. The eight competitors, as well as a few bystanders who had been watching their match from the lobby, watched as the percentage of turf each team coated slowly raised before finally popping into the final numbers.

Orange team was victorious.

This was the first time they had lost to Ink, and Will's squad was understandably shocked and disappointed. Ink's squad, on the other hand, immediately began celebrating as Ink's larger companions cheered, one of them smacking her in the back and nearly knocking her off-balance.

Will, in a rare show of good sportsmanship, walked over to Ink and smiled. "Great job, Ink. You definitely deserve the win."

Ink's cheeks heated up as her victorious grin dropped, replaced by a nervous half-smile. "Uh… thanks."

Will considered leaving it at that, but couldn't resist. "Although… you wouldn't have won if you hadn't stolen _my_ strategy."

Things back to normal, Ink's smirk returned. "You're just saying that because you can't stand defeat."

"Whatever," Will rolled his eyes, smiling playfully. "It won't happen next time."

"Sure it won't."

Before returning to their squads, Will and Ink shook hands once more, both mentally recognizing that their rivalry had quickly, without either really noticing, become one between close friends rather than enemies.

"I see you got past your hydrophobia," Tenta noted as Will returned. He glared at her.

"Quiet, I don't need to give Ink anything else to tease me about," he scowled. "Besides, I only crossed the water twice. The rest of the time I was on that one platform."

"Still," Tenta responded, shrugging. "That's better than you did last time."

"I guess you're right," Will said, a small smile appearing on his face. Maybe he would be able to deal with water better in the future… as long as he didn't rush into things.

"Hi," a young female voice suddenly came from behind Will. The four Inklings turned to see a short, pale, pink-tentacled Inkling girl smiling nervously at them as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Her tentacles were styled similarly to Tenta's, but they were much shorter, hanging barely below her chin, and the top of her head was mostly covered by a striped beanie.

"Uh… hello," Will greeted, unsure as to why this strange girl was talking to them.

"My nam- uh, that is… I'm Pixel," she stuttered before covering her face with her hand and taking a deep breath. When she moved her hand away, she looked more confident. "I'd like to speak with Jonu." Her confidence immediately dropped, and she added, "Um, please."

Will, Tenta, and Cole shared a knowing look before stepping out from between Jonu and Pixel. When Jonu froze up, Tenta gave him a slight push towards her. Jonu was shorter than his squadmates, but he was still taller than Pixel.

"So um…" Pixel started, taking another deep breath. "I've watched all of your battles and- gosh, that sounds creepy. That's not what I meant, see I've just seen you… battling…" She turned away, embarrassed. "What do I mean?" she mumbled to herself. Jonu smiled a little, recognizing her nervousness as similar to his own.

"You don't have to be nervous," he spoke quietly, catching Pixel off-guard. She blushed furiously. "I get flustered too. I completely understand."

Given new confidence, Pixel turned to him and put on a brave smile. "I want you to train me." Seeing Jonu's shocked confused face, she doubled back. "I mean, if that's okay. You probably don't have time. I just really like using a Roller and you're so good at it so I was hoping-"

"No, that's… That's fine. Great, I mean," Jonu said, also stuttering.

Pixel's eyes lit up. "Really? That's- Thank you!" She suddenly lunged forward and hugged Jonu, who immediately tensed up as his face turned red. Realizing what she had done, Pixel quickly let go, her face as red as his was. "Um… um… I'll um… Bye." She ran off, her head down. Jonu still hadn't moved when Will, Tenta, and Cole, who had watched the entire scene, walked over to him.

"…What just happened?" Jonu asked, turning his head slightly to face his companions, though his blush didn't fade.

"I think Pixel just asked you out," Will responded with a slight grin. Cole snickered.

Jonu considered this for a moment. "I'm gonna go home and lay down."

 **THIS WAS NOT MY PLAN FOR JONU BUT I CAME UP WITH PIXEL AND SHE'S ADORABLE AND NOW IT'S OTP**

 **Kind of a filler chapter, whoops. It was mostly meant to show how the characters had developed. Will faced his fear of water, Ink won a Turf War, Will and Ink got along, and Jonu was brave enough to land… a date? Kind of? ALSO PIXEL SHE MAKES UP FOR IT I wish I could draw I want to draw my characters**

 **I don't know how Tenta and Cole have changed yet. Tbh they didn't have a lot of negative qualities. I need to focus on their characters some more.**

 **Back to the plot next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**SPLA2N HYPE YOOOO (very disappointed in the lack of pun in the title though) so yeah, here we are with new chapters.**

 **I'm going to do my best to incorporate bits and pieces of Splatoon 2 into this story without completely throwing off my initial plan. There aren't a lot of plot bits to add yet, but you might see some Dualies showing up… maybe…**

 **I've also gone back and edited past chapters. Most of it was grammatical things, but I also took the time to add in hairstyles for each of the characters based on the hairstyles in Splatoon 2 that have been revealed and a couple other descriptions (I realized I had never actually described Ink, so you can get an idea of what she looks like now if you re-read Chapter 1).**

"Hey, Cap'n Cuttlefish, we're ready for another mission!" Will called as he, Tenta, Cole, Jonu, and Ink emerged from the sewer. It had been two weeks since their first mission, and so far the New Squidbeak Splatoon (as the Squid Sisters and other media had dubbed the anonymous heroes of Inkopolis) had recovered most of the Zapfish. Still, even as the amount of Octarian bases left to storm shrunk, there was no sign of the Great Zapfish.

"Cap'n Cuttlefish?" Tenta called. The old man was nowhere in sight and, given his general hermit-like behavior, this worried the squids greatly.

"Uh, guys," Cole called. "You might want to come look at this." The others followed the sound of his voice to find him standing by Octiana's snow globe prison. The snow globe was shattered and Octiana was missing.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ink muttered.

Will mumbled some expletives under his breath. "She probably broke out. We'll be lucky if she hasn't already splatted Cuttlefish. Grab your weapons, maybe we can track her down and she'll lead us to-"

"Wow." The voice came from behind them, interrupting Will. The five squids whirled around to see none other than Octiana just a few feet away, her arms crossed. Will aimed his Splattershot at her. "It took less than thirty seconds for you to turn on me. I'd be upset, but I just won 100 coins in a bet, so…"

"What are you doing out of your snow globe?" Will demanded, not changing his aim. "Wait, no. More importantly, where is Cap'n Cuttlefish?"

"He was kidnapped." The response wasn't from Octiana. The five squids whirled around once again to see two female Inklings in full hero gear. The Inkling on the left, who was the one that spoke, was also wearing a hot pink beanie, a purple turtleneck, and sunglasses. The Inkling on the right wore a lime green skater cap turned to the side, a green top, and a white scarf over her mouth.

"And you two are?" Ink questioned.

"Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon," the green Inkling, Agent 2, responded. "We've been working with Cap'n Cuttlefish for some time as intelligence officers. When the Octarians became active again, we were the ones who suggested that Cap'n Cuttlefish recruit you five to infiltrate and attack."

The squids had many questions for the new and apparently omniscient agents, but Tenta chose to voice the most immediately relevant one first. "Okay, and where is the Cap'n now? "

"Like I said, he was kidnapped," Agent 1 repeated, crossing her arms. "A fleet of Octotroopers, led by none other than DJ Octavio himself, took him."

"Agents 1 and 2 got here just as they escaped," Octiana added, walking next to the agents.

"And why are you out of your prison?" Will asked again, stepping towards the Octoling and gripping his Splattershot tightly. "Did the Octotroopers break you out as thanks for leading them right to the leader of the enemy army? You stuck around just to throw us off. Or worse, finish us off."

"Actually, we broke her out," Agent 2 corrected. "The Octotroopers left her completely untouched. From our research, your friend here is not only a prisoner, but an exile. The Octarians wouldn't take her back if she wanted to return."

Will's clenched fists loosened. "Oh." He stepped back from Octiana and averted his eyes sheepishly. "Um… Sorry."

"Speaking of which," Octiana remarked, ignoring Will and crossing to Agent 1. "You lost the bet. Pay up." Agent 1 scowled and pulled out a small bag of coins, handing it to Octiana.

"Okay, I'm still confused," Ink said. "You two are intelligence officers? That's like, spies, right? Why hasn't Cap'n Cuttlefish ever mentioned that he had spies?"

"What kind of spies would we be if people knew about us?" Agent 1 responded matter-of-factly.

Ink squinted. "And you told him about us? So what, you've been following us?"

"We watch every turf war," Agent 2 responded. "Your squad is among the most impressive teams we've ever observed. You're a group of very talented squids."

"Okay, that's not important right now," Will said, refocusing. "What's important is Cap'n Cuttlefish. Octiana says you saw the Octotroopers escape, so where did they take him?"

"They split up. Different groups went into different kettles. There's no telling which one had Cap'n Cuttlefish with them," Agent 2 explained.

"So we know absolutely nothing," Will growled, frustratedly throwing his Splattershot aside. Tenta grabbed his arm.

"Calm down," she reprimanded gently. "Focus." Will nodded and took a deep breath. Ink rolled her eyes and shoved past them to get closer to the agents.

"Look, I'm gonna be frank," she said, barely louder than a whisper. "I don't trust either of you. I'm probably never going to trust either of you. So let me give you two options: you can either make yourselves useful, or make yourselves scarce. Your choice."

Agent 2 glared at Ink then moved to talk to the others. "Unfortunately, Cap'n Cuttlefish is the least of our priorities. Thanks to some sleuthing on our parts and information from Octiana, we've managed to find some pertinent information."

"Which is?" Cole asked.

"The Great Octoweapons," Agent 1 announced dramatically.

Jonu's eyes lit up. "Oh! I know this one. The Great Octoweapons are machinery used by the Octarians in the Great Turf War. The Octostomp, the Octonozzle, the Octowhirl, and the Octomaw. They were nearly unbeatable but had one major design flaw: they had to be plugged in. Because of this ignorant design, the Inklings were easily able to win the war."

"You mean, thanks to their _lucky_ discovery of a _well-hidden_ secret, the Inklings _barely_ won the war," Octiana corrected venomously.

"It doesn't matter," Ink sighed. "The point is, the Octarians are clearly planning to use the Zapfish to power the Great Octoweapons. Without their plugs, they could truly be invincible."

"They're also using the Zapfish to power various new forms of weaponry, including the weapons they used to kidnap Cap'n Cuttlefish," Agent 1 added.

Agent 2 nodded. "Before we can save Cap'n Cuttlefish, we have to recover the Zapfish. Especially the Great Zapfish. With all of that power, there's no telling what the Octarians can accomplish. And if they become too powerful…"

"Inkopolis is doomed," Will finished, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "Then we'd better move. The longer we spend talking about it, the more time the Octarians have to prepare for battle."

"Look," Agent 2 said. "I know Cap'n Cuttlefish has already told you all this, but this is extremely dangerous. In the end, the five of you are just kids, and your safety is the highest priority. The Octarians are far more prepared and experienced than any words can prepare you for. We wouldn't even ask you to do this unless we thought you could handle it, but the choice is yours. You can walk away now and go back to your normal lives. No one will think any less of you, and we'll find another way to stop the Octarians."

Cole stepped forward to respond first. "With all due respect, you're wrong. That's not an option. We can't, in good conscience, be aware of a threat and be able to do something about it but not. Inkopolis needs us."

Will, Tenta, Ink, and Jonu quickly joined him. "He's right," Will said. "We're in."

"Okay," Agent 2 said reluctantly. "Your first priority is to take down the Great Octoweapons. Without them, the Octarians will be severely hindered."

"Hold on," Tenta interrupted. "We're supposed to take down _invincible_ weapons? How?"

"That's the thing," Agent 1 explained joyfully. "They aren't invincible - _yet_. After they lost power in the Great Turf War, the original Squidbeak Splatoon tore them to pieces. The Octarians have been so busy working on getting the Zapfish and their new plans, they haven't finished repairing them. There are still weak points."

"But you have to move quickly," Agent 2 said. "We've managed to locate the first of the Octoweapons' location. Agent 1 will be in contact with the six of you as you battle it, and I'll be infiltrating Octo Valley to see if I can find the others."

"Hold on," Cole interrupted. "Six of us?"

"Oh, right. Octiana will be joining you on this mission," Agent 2 explained. Octiana smiled proudly.

"I don't think so," Ink announced, getting toe-to-toe with Agent 2. "She may be an exile, but she's still a lousy Octarian. You've already explained how dangerous this is, we don't need a slimy traitor waiting to throw us to our deaths at a moment's notice."

Agent 2 didn't back down, her glare's iciness surpassing even Ink's. Every sentence was punctuated with a step, pushing Ink further and further back. "You can complain and whine all you want. Unfortunately for you, the five of you have limited experience in Octo Valley and Octiana has lived there most of her life. So allow _me_ to give _you_ two options: you can either go home and boss your loser squad around in failed Turf Wars for the rest of your life, or you can get over your baseless prejudices and suspicions and do what's best for Inkopolis." Ink's back was now against Cuttlefish's shack. Agent 2 stepped away from her. "Your choice." Ink's face was red with anger and embarrassment, but she didn't state any arguments. "I think we just came to an understanding," Agent 2 teased.

"Alright, guys," Agent 1 said, bringing attention back to the matter at hand. "It's time for you to get moving. Go suit up." The five Inklings nodded and took off to where their Hero Suits were stored in Cuttlefish's shack. Agent 1 turned to Agent 2. "Do you really think this will work?" she asked anxiously.

"All we have is hope, Cal," Agent 2 responded, putting a hand on Agent 1's shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9

"Is this such a good idea?" Octiana asked nervously. The five Inkling heroes were each standing on pads, having already changed their ink to be a matching shade of green, but Octiana was hesitant to step on hers. "I've never changed my ink color before. Has this ever been tested on an Octoling?"

Agent 2 squinted at her. "You realize you're literally the only Octoling who has ever been in Inkopolis, right?"

"Okay, so… isn't this incredibly risky?" Octiana asked.

"You could always go back in your prison…" Agent 1 suggested.

A new determination washed over the Octoling. "First time for everything," she stated, closing her eyes and preparing for the worst. As she stepped on the platform, the ink engulfed her and the seven spectators covered their eyes. Fortunately, when the ink washed away, Octiana was fine. Her tentacles had turned from maroon to green, though the tips remained purple when she transformed into octopus form.

"Thank goodness," Agents 1 and 2 muttered when they saw she was okay.

"Ready?" Will asked, stepping up next to Octiana.

"As I'll ever be," she replied.

Will turned to the rest of the squad. "Ready?" he asked again.

"Uh huh." "Absolutely!" "You know it." "For like, twenty minutes."

"Then let's go."

As they disappeared into one of the kettles, Agent 1 turned to Agent 2. "Wait, the only Octoling ever? What about-"

"Let's let them focus on the matter at hand," Agent 2 replied. "Then we can tell them about that."

…

Will and Cole emerged from the kettle first. "What is this place?" Cole asked, looking around. The area resembled a cityscape, though, once again, closer inspection revealed the skyline was simply a series of panels covering up the cave walls. The kettle was on a small, square platform attached via catwalk to a much larger, circular platform in front of them with a large, metallic box on it. The Zapfish floated above the box.

"I'm not sure," Will remarked. "But there's the Zapfish and it doesn't look like it's guarded. Come on." He began to walk across the catwalk, Cole close behind.

As they left the kettle platform, Jonu, Ink, Tenta, and Octiana emerged. "Where are we now?" Tenta asked, looking towards Octiana. Jonu took a step towards the platform, staring at something.

"Don't look at me," she responded. "I've never been here before."

"What are you two doing?" Ink called, following Will and Cole.

"Agent 1? Agent 2? Are you guys there? Can you see us?" Tenta spoke into her earpiece. The only response was static.

"That's weird," Octiana muttered, starting to feel stressed.

"Guys?" Jonu said, his eyes widening.

"Jonu, what's wrong?" Tenta asked.

"Look out!" he suddenly screamed to Will, Cole, and Ink, just as Will arrived at the top of the box and reached for the Zapfish.

Before the three could register what Jonu said, an octopus tentacle reached out of the metal box and pulled the Zapfish down into it. The metal box began to whir before suddenly leaping into the air, sending Will flying behind it as it flipped, revealing a giant Octarian-like face covered in purple ink.

"Move, move, move!" Ink shouted, grabbing Cole and diving back towards Jonu, Octiana, and Tenta as the box came plummeting down, landing face-first where they had been standing seconds prior and splashing its octo ink across the platform.

Ink and Cole quickly got off the ground and ran back to the kettle as the Octarian box attempted to stand back up. "What the heck is that thing?" Ink asked.

"The Mighty Octostomp," Jonu responded. "One of the great Octoweapons."

"How did they already get it up and running?" Tenta asked rhetorically.

"Doesn't matter," Octiana responded. "How are we going to stop it?"

"Wait, where's Will?" Cole asked. The five snapped their attention back to the battlefield. Will was lying, dazed, against the railing on the edge of the Octostomp's platform. The Octostomp had just gotten back on its humorously tiny feet and was now stumbling towards him.

"Ah, carp," Ink muttered.

Tenta quickly stepped forward. "Ink, Octiana, get to Will and get him to his feet. Cole, Jonu, we have to get the Octostomp's attention."

Ink and Octiana quickly jumped into action, alternating with their Octoshot and Blaster to create an ink path to swim through, past the bumbling Octostomp and to Will.

"That tentacle," Jonu said, pointing at the tentacle hanging out of the back of the Octostomp as Ink and Octiana made their way to Will. "Do you think that's…?"

"Its pilot," Tenta finished. "One way to find out." She took aim with her Charger and released a blast, hitting the center of the tentacle. The Octostomp stumbled and turned around, then roared.

"Whatever it was, it made it angry!" Cole shouted, panicking as the Octostomp picked up speed, charging towards them.

"The tentacle is its weak point!" Tenta called to Ink, Octiana, and the recovering Will, then dodging across the catwalk as the Octostomp leaped into the air and came plummeting down towards the kettle, Jonu and Cole on her heels.

Ink and Octiana, holding Will up by his armpits, located the tentacle, now on top as the Octostomp was face-down, just in time for it to disappear into the machine and out of harm's way. "We have to get into the machine somehow," Ink mused.

"I have an idea," Octiana mumbled, spotting the trail of ink Will made to try and reach the Zapfish.

"What?" Ink asked.

"Take him," Octiana responded, tossing Will at Ink. Will ended up crumpling back to the ground. "Ugh, my head…"

"Octiana, where are you-" Tenta asked as the Octoling dashed past her.

Ink's eyes lit up. "Barnacles, she's a genius," she muttered, then turned to Tenta and shouted, "Shoot its defenses!"

"What? Why would I-"

"Just do it!" Ink ordered. Octiana transformed into octopus form and began swimming to the Octostomp. Tenta reluctantly took aim at the Octostomp and fired multiple times, coating it in ink but doing no damage. Ink and Cole soon joined in while Jonu went to help Will back to his feet.

"What is she doing?" Cole asked.

"Just watch," Ink responded. As the Octostomp began to clumsily get back on its feet, Octiana leaped off the platform and into the ink splattered onto it by the others, disappearing into it without the Octostomp even knowing.

Tenta's eyes lit up. "Could it be that easy?"

Will rubbed his eyes, still half-dazed, as Jonu helped him walk over. "Wait, what's going on?"

"Get it to attack us! Move!" Tenta shouted, firing a blast at the Octostomp to get its attention, then diving into the ink.

"Okay…?" Will said, rubbing his head. "Isn't the goal _not_ to be attacked?"

"It's probably best not to question her," Jonu noted before turning into a squid and swimming towards the Octostomp. Will shrugged and followed.

The Octostomp spun around as the five sprayed, splashed, and blasted it from different angles, continuing to coat it in green ink and expanding Octiana's space. Eventually, they all gathered in the same place, allowing the Octostomp to leap at them in an attempted attack, though they scattered as it crashed to the ground.

Octiana emerged from the ink near the hatch where the tentacle had been sticking out. "Get in there!" Tenta shouted.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Octiana mumbled as she worked to pry the hatch open. Once she did, she jumped down into the device. Spotting the silhouette of the pilot with the Zapfish in front of them, she stuck her Octoshot to the back of their head. "Don't move."

"Octiana?" the pilot asked. Octiana froze up, her grip on her Octoshot loosening.

"What are you doing here?" Octiana asked, her voice wavering.

"I could ask you the same thing."

…

"What do you think is happening?" Tenta asked impatiently. The Octostomp hadn't moved since Octiana disappeared into the hatch. No one had an answer for her.

Ink was pacing and keeping her eye on the device. "We shouldn't have let her go in there alone," she muttered. "She's probably plotting with the pilot to take us all out."

"Well, why don't we go in after her?" Cole asked, taking a step towards the machine. "Just make sure everything's going according to plan."

"No, that's not a good idea," Will argued, stopping Cole. "We'd just get in the way. I trust her."

Ink studied Will's face before crossing her arms and returning her gaze to the Octostomp.

…

"You abandoned me," Octiana growled, her hand shaking as her grip once again tightened around her weapon.

"You really believe that?"

"I don't have to. I saw it with my own eyes."

The pilot laughed. "You don't know what you saw."

…

"How long has she been in there?" Will asked.

"Three minutes and thirty-six seconds," Jonu responded. "And counting."

All five of them were now sitting on the ground. Will's leg bounced up and down.

"How's that trust?" Ink asked him teasingly.

"Don't you think we'd be fighting for our lives by now if she was going to betray us?" Tenta fired back.

"I just wish I knew what she _is_ going to do," Will muttered.

…

"I-I don't believe you," Octiana said with a scowl.

"Would I lie to you?"

Octiana's head dropped, the Octoshot drifting off of the pilot's head and down towards the floor.

"That's a good girl… Now, what do you really want to do?"

…

"That's it," Ink sighed. "I can't take it anymore. I'm going in there." She got up and marched towards the still-frozen machine.

"Stop!" Tenta called. "Ink, you're putting yourself and Octiana at risk-"

…

"Yes."

"…What?"

"Yes, you would."

"I would…?"

…

"She's putting all of us at risk!" Ink shouted back.

"We have to trust her or we don't stand a chance," Tenta argued. "Tell her, Will. "

Will didn't respond.

…

"You've been lying to me… my entire life!" Octiana growled, pointing the gun back at the pilot. "You've lied about everything. About the Great Turf War, about the Inklings… you've always framed them as the bad guys. But they're not the bad guys. We are."

…

"Will, don't tell me you agree with her."

"I don't know, Tenta," Will responded, his voice weak.

"Can we just stop?" Jonu begged. "Even if she is betraying us, what can we do about it now? Our only option is to wait… and hope."

Will swallowed the lump in his throat.

…

"Octiana, you don't know what you're doing-"

"No," Octiana interrupted. "For the first time in my life, I do."

The pilot glared at her. "So what? You gonna shoot me?"

…

As the five Inklings watched, the Octostomp began to shake, moving the entire platform, and emit sparks.

"What's happening?" Cole asked as they all stood up. Before anyone could form a response, Octiana emerged from the hatch, gripping the Zapfish, and jumped off the machine just as it exploded in a bright white flash, blinding the squad and shaking the platform enough to knock them to the ground. When they recovered, there was no sign of the Octostomp. Will ran to Octiana's side and helped her back to her feet.

"What happened?" he asked.

Octiana shook her head. "It doesn't matter. That was just one of the five Great Octoweapons."

"So what?" Ink asked. "If they're all that easy to stop, there's not a problem."

"That's the thing," Octiana continued. "These machines are supposed to be invincible. They were invincible centuries ago."

"Maybe the stories exaggerated?" Cole suggested.

Jonu scratched his chin. "Or maybe… we caught them before they could finish refurbishing it."

Octiana nodded. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"So every Octoweapon we encounter will be stronger than the last," Will summarized.

"Wait," Tenta interrupted. "If they're just using normal Zapfish to power the Great Octoweapons… what's the Great Zapfish for?"

Will considered this. "Good question… we better get back to Agents 1 and 2 and see if we can find out."

…

"This is not good," Agent 1 was complaining, pacing back and forth. "We just sent five kids into Octarian territory and now we've lost all contact with them. Do you know what that could do to our career?"

Agent 2 made a face. "Really? Our career? _That's_ what you're thinking about?"

"It's better than the alternative," Agent 1 argued. "I don't want to think about what might have…" She shuddered.

"I'm sure they're fine," Agent 2 assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Agent 1 took a deep breath.

"We're back," Will suddenly called, emerging from the kettles.

Agent 2 breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank cod you're alive."

Agent 1 squinted at her. "I thought you said you were sure they were fine."

"I was bluffing," Agent 2 admitted.

"Yeah, about that," Tenta said. "What happened? Why couldn't we communicate with you?"

"I wish we knew," Agent 2 admitted. "My best guess is that the Octarians blocked the signal somehow. What happened? What were you guys doing?"

"Oh, nothing too hard," Ink responded. "Just battling a Great Octoweapon."

The agents' jaws dropped.

"And you took it down?" Agent 1 asked.

Will nodded. "Thanks to Octiana," he said, putting an arm around her.

Octiana uncomfortably shifted away. "Yeah, uh… but we probably shouldn't dwell too much on that. There's still four more of those things, we need to get moving."

"No way," Agent 2 stated. "There's not a chance we're letting you go back on a mission without communication."

"You squids go home," Agent 1 agreed. "We'll work on the earpieces and see what we can do. We should have them fixed by tomorrow."

"What? No!" Tenta argued. "You don't understand. The Octarians are already hard at work restoring the Great Octoweapons. We don't have the time-"

"I know you're worried, but what's the point in trying to stop them if you're just going to get splatted?" Agent 1 insisted. "We don't need to make you into martyrs. We need a plan to stop them. And until we have that, the Octarians will just have to wait."

Tenta tried to respond, but Will stopped her. "They're right. We can't do anything without a plan. We got lucky this time. We'll try again tomorrow." Tenta scowled but didn't respond.

"What's the worst thing that can happen overnight?" Agent 1 asked.

…

Meanwhile, deep underground…

October made his way through the Octarian tunnel, balanced precariously upon a small catwalk. "Uh, sir? Boss? DJ? You there?"

"What is it, October?" a deep, booming voice asked in response. As October arrived on a larger platform, his eyes were drawn to the silhouetted, towering Octarian who had spoken: DJ Octavio.

October swallowed nervously, not sure how his master would take the news. "Th-The Octostomp was destroyed by the Squidbeak Splatoon." DJ Octavio shifted slightly, crossing his tentacles, but didn't respond. "Uh… sir? What do we do now?" October asked.

Another terrifying moment of silence passed, then Octavio let out a laugh. October nervously chuckled with him. "No need to worry, October," Octavio said. "We're ready to rock."

October shifted, not sure what Octavio meant. Before he could question any further, the sound of a booming bassline echoed throughout the area. "Leave me to my work," Octavio ordered. October nervously stuttered an affirmative before scampering off.

 **Sorry for the long break between updates, I'm… honestly not sure why I didn't write this? Oh, well, here it is now.**

 **I intentionally left some little tidbits of things that will be covered later in the story, but I can't help but feel like I forced them in even though I've been planning them more-or-less since the beginning. Hopefully, it doesn't seem that way to you guys and I'm just overly critical of my work (like usual).**

 **By the way! I now have a Tumblr for my writing. Check out datnuttykid-writes (dot tumblr dot com)!**

 **Let me know what you think - leave a review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Fun fact: the first part of this chapter was originally the end of the last chapter! Why should you care? Well, no reason in particular, but I thought I'd share.**

"We should be done with the earpieces first thing in the morning," Agent 2 said. "Head over as soon as you wake up and we'll send you off to hunt down the rest of the Octoweapons."

"Where are you going to go, Octiana?" Jonu asked.

"I have room at my apartment," Will offered.

Octiana looked surprised. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"Yeah, of course," Will assured her.

"Wait, is this such a good idea?" Agent 2 asked. "How will Inkling society react to an Octarian in their midst?"

"Relax," Agent 1 replied, putting a hand on Agent 2's shoulder before turning to Will and Octiana and grinning. "I have a plan."

…

"This is incredibly uncomfortable," Octiana complained. Agent 1 had stuffed her tentacles into the helmet of the Stealth Goggles and given her a Berry Ski Jacket and Green Rain Boots to wear.

"You just have to wear it on your way to and from the headquarters," Agent 2 assured her.

"And besides, you look great, if I do say so myself," Agent 1 added, grinning. "Exactly like an Inkling."

Agent 2 made a face. "Uh… yeah, right." She leaned close to Octiana and whispered, "But you might want to stay in the shadows, just to be safe." Octiana nodded.

…

Will fumbled with the key to the front door of his apartment as Octiana stood behind him, pacing nervously. "This is really weird," she muttered, adjusting the Ski Jacket. Finally, Will opened the door, holding it for Octiana as she hurried in. Once she felt she was safely out of the public eye, she took a moment to take the apartment in. "Wow," she remarked. "This is where you live?"

"Uh, yeah," Will said, embarrassedly picking up various scattered pieces of trash on the floor and his desk. The apartment was pretty small - Will did live alone, after all - with a bed right through the door underneath a window, a bookshelf and desk with a laptop to the left, and a couch on the far end of the room, separated from the bed by a nightstand; even so, Octiana was impressed. "You can sleep in the bed and I'll take the couch," Will said. "Luckily, I just washed the sheets."

Octiana considered protesting and offering to sleep on the couch but figured it was pointless. After stripping back down to the bodysuit she had been wearing under the Hero Suit, she climbed onto the bed and looked out the window. "Nice view," she remarked.

Will had never really even thought about it and now took the time to actually examine the outside of his window. Past the fire escape where Tenta and/or Jonu would greet him almost every morning was the entire city of Inkopolis. With everyone's lights out for the night, the city was lit only by the pale glow of the moon and the twinkling of a thousand stars. "Yeah, it is," Will agreed. "I guess I never really looked before."

Octiana shrugged. "This is a nice place. You're pretty lucky." Will sheepishly stuffed his hands into his pockets, knowing Octiana's life was likely much harder than his had been. "You live here alone?" she asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, sitting on the couch to take off his shoes. "Yeah, my parents live across town. They bought me this apartment for my fourteenth birthday."

"You moved out when you were fourteen?" Octiana asked, surprised.

Will nodded. "That's when Inklings usually move out. What about you? When do Octarians stop living with their parents?"

Octiana frowned. "Well, um… as soon as we're born." Will looked confused. "Octarian moms starve themselves caring for their eggs… and I have no way of knowing who my dad is."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"It's fine," Octiana insisted. "It's just a fact of life. Most Octarians have to fend for themselves and a lot don't make it. But Octolings are rare, so it's different. Some female Octarians are assigned to be nannies and take care of the infants. Usually, they care for them until they're 18, but when the powers that be decided we would steal the Zapfish, all of the Octolings old enough to control both octopus and human forms were enlisted into the army."

Will scratched his head. "It's weird," he remarked. "Octarians and Inklings used to live in peace, but we know so little about each other."

"Maybe things were different back then."

"Maybe."

They sat in silence, Will making a bed for himself on the couch and settling in. He usually slept without a shirt but felt rather uncomfortable taking it off in front of Octiana, even though Tenta was often in his room while he was undressed. This train of thought eventually led him to the question, "Are there male Octolings?"

"What?" Octiana was caught off-guard by this seemingly random question breaking the silence.

"Uh, sorry, I was just thinking-" Will decided against explaining what led to him asking. "The other Octoling attacking the mall was a girl. And I've only ever read about female Octolings in scrolls. So I thought I'd ask."

"Well… yes and no. It's possible for an Octoling to be male but really unlikely, even more than the unlikelihood of an Octoling being born anyway. So most of them are kept in hiding and trained especially to be strong warriors. I've never seen one."

Will nodded as silence once again fell over the room. Eventually, he decided to sleep shirtless as usual; Octiana didn't react when he took his shirt off. They didn't speak again for several hours and eventually, Will determined that Octiana was probably asleep, though the stress of the day and knowing the Octarians could be preparing to destroy Inkopolis kept him up.

"Are you still awake?" Octiana asked a long while after midnight.

"Yeah," Will answered. "I thought you fell asleep a couple hours ago."

"No, I can't," she replied. "I can't stop thinking about… well, everything."

"Me neither," he said. "You still haven't told anyone what happened inside the Octostomp."

Octiana rolled over. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Will frowned, more curious now than ever, but let it slide. "Well, what _do_ you want to talk about?"

Octiana considered this. "You said your parents live across town, right?"

"That's right."

"What's your relationship with them like?"

Will frowned. "I…haven't seen them since I moved out."

"Oh."

"They message me occasionally… and they say they watch my battles when they get the chance. But we don't really stay in contact."

"Is that… normal?" Octiana asked. "You know, for Inklings?"

"Not really. Tenta and Cole visit their parents every other weekend. Jonu's parents live down the hall from him."

"Oh." A few more moments of silence passed, then, "That must be hard."

"I guess so. We usually just fought when I lived with them. So it's not a huge loss."

Octiana made a face, not that Will could see it. "What about your nanny?" Will asked. "Do you still keep in contact with her?"

"Oh, um…" She thought carefully about her answer. "I mean… I was drafted into the Octarian army, and then you guys captured me. So it's kind of hard to be."

"Right, duh. That was a stupid question." Octiana giggled. Pleased to have apparently amused her, Will grinned. "Well, I guess it's your turn. Do you have any other questions for me?" he asked.

"My turn? Are we taking turns asking things now?"

"I don't know. Are we?"

Octiana shrugged and turned back to face Will. "How long have you been friends with Jonu, Tenta, Cole, and Ink?"

"I've known Tenta and Cole my whole life," Will explained. "Our parents were friends. So we've been training for turf wars since we could walk. Once we were all 14, we started looking for a fourth member of our squad. That's how we found Jonu. He was so nervous, he could barely speak to us during the audition. But his roller skills were unbeatable, so we had to pick him. And Ink…" He paused and chuckled. "I don't know if I'd say I'm friends with Ink. We've only really been working together on the whole Squidbeak Splatoon thing."

"She admires you," Octiana mused.

Will raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Ink. She admires you a lot. I doubt she'd ever admit it, but your opinion means a lot to her. _You_ mean a lot to her."

Will's face was turning red now. "If you say so. Our squads are rivals, though. Have been for a long time. Anyway, it's my turn to ask."

This style of conversation continued for hours before both Will and Octiana passed out from exhaustion. As the first sunbeams of the day began to shine through the window onto the snoozing Octoling, a terrible darkness ran through her head…

…

 _"Octiana?" the pilot asked. Octiana froze up, her grip on her Octoshot loosening._

 _"What are you doing here?" Octiana asked. Only one person could make her voice waver in fear like it did now._

 _Her nanny._

 _Coral._

 **Dun dun dunnnnn…**

 **Whoaaaa an Octarian whose name doesn't start with Oct-! I almost went with Octivia but since Marina exists, I figured I had to set a precedent.**

 **We'll finish up this flashback next time… until then, please leave a review letting me know what you think! Even if you hated it, I want to know. Thanks, guys! Stay fresh!**


End file.
